Parquetry floor.



PATENTED JULY 12, 1904.

C. M. KREBS. PARQUETRY FLOOR.

APPLIOATION FILED my 23, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

J a r m m #0 ATTORNE ;S.

WITNESSES: @MZS'I'MIR provem ent.

UNITED STATES Patented July 12, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

PARQUETRY FLOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 764,948, dated July 12, 1904,

Application filed May 23, 1903. Serial No. 158,490. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1. CHARLES M.I{REBS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New Albany, in the county of Floyd and State of Indiana, have invented a new and Improved Parquetry Floor, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object-of. the invention is to provide a new and improved parquetry floor which issimple and durable in construction, not liable to warp or become disjointed, adapted to be conveniently and quickly laid on an old or new wood subfioor, and arranged to allow secure nailing of the blocks and securing of other exposed parts in such manner that no nails or other fastening devices will be exposed to view, and to allow complete finishing of the parts of the floor at the shop, so that after assembling the parts an exceedingly even and level surface is produced and no further planing, scraping, sandpapering, puttying, or varnishing is necessary.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations of the same, as

will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointed out in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts'in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the im- Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the blocks. Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-section of the improvement on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the retainer for holding the finishing or filling strips in position, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged crosssection of the skeleton frame.

The parquetry floor is laid on an ordinary old or new subfloor A, usually made of floorboards, and on this subfioor A is placed an open or skeleton frame formed of longitudinal bars B of considerable length and short transverse bars B, extending at right angles from one bar B to the next adjacent one, and the said longitudinal bars B are preferably placed crosswise of'the floor-boards, as plainly indicated in Fig. 1. In order to give considerable bearing-surface to the skeleton or open frame, the bars B are preferably provided on their sides with lips upon which are fitted the ends of the cross-bars B (see Figs. 1, 5, and 7 to produce an exceedingly strong and durable joint between the bars B and B of this open or skeleton frame. The open frame supports parquetry blocks C, preferably made square and each formed of layers glued together and having their grains extending at right angles one to the other, and each block is formed on each of its sides with a tongue or flange C in such a manner that each layer contributes about one-half to the formation of the tongue, as plainly indicated in Fig. 4. Each block C corresponds in size to the mesh of the open or skeleton frame, and the short bars B may be readily adjusted lengthwise to insure proper fitting of the blocks in the skeleton frame, and when a block is placed in position then its lower portion extends into the mesh and the tongues 0 rest on the bars B B of the framework that is, each tongue 0 extends about halfway across the width of a bar-so that the tongues of adjacent blocks abut or touch on the sides of adjacent blocks. The blocks are secured in place by nails D, driven through registering recesses C of the abutting tongues C in such a manner that the head of each nail engages a countersink on both abutting tongues, thus holding adjacent blocks in place on the skeleton frame and holding the abutting edges of adjacent blocks down to the same plane. Each nail D is driven into the corresponding bar B or B and is preferably of such a length as to enter the subfloor A, and thereby fasten the bars B and B of the skeleton frame in position relative one to the other and securely to the subfloor A. (See Figs. 2 and 5.) The longitudinal and transverse spaces above the tongues and between the upper portions of adjacent blocks are filledwith finishing or filling strips E and E, covering the tongues and the heads of the nails D, (see 'Fig. 2,) and the strips E are preferably held in position by secret retainers F in the shape of flat plates or disks (see Fig. 6) fitting into horizontal recesses cut in the ends of the strips and in the'corners of the adjacent blocks 3, so that the latter hold the retainers against movement in any direction, and the retainers in turn hold the strips E in place without the use of nails or like fastening devices extending to the upper face of the flooring. I do not limit myself, however, to the arrangement of filling-strips and retainers shown and described, as the same may be varied without deviating from my invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the blocks 0 are solely supported in the open or skeleton frame, and the latter is supported on the subfloor and fastened thereto to readily. 'bridge over any slight inequalities that may be in the surface of the subfloor, and hence the open or skeleton frame produces a firm level surface for the support of each individual block, and consequently the latter present an exceedingly even and level surface.

The filling-strips E E may be of the same or of different material or color as the blocks C, and as the strips form borders for the blocks it is evident that the appearance of the parquetry floor is greatly enhanced.

By the arrangement described the several parts of the parquetry floor can be completely finished in the shop and assembled on the subfloor and fastened in place as described, so that after the parts are assembled no nails or fastening devices are lexposed to view and no further planing, scraping, sandpapering, puttying, or varnishing is required.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A parquetry floor comprising an open or skeleton frame formed of longitudinal and transverse bars, blocks having tongues about midway between their upper and lower faces, said tongues resting on the top of the bars of the open frame, the bottom portions of the "blocks extending into the spaces or meshes in the open frame, and finishing-strips fitting the spaces between the top portions of adjacent blocks and covering the tongues thereof, as

set forth.

2. A parquetry fioor comprising an open frame formed of longitudinal and transverse bars, blocks having tongues on all sides midway between their upper and lower faces, said tongues being adapted to rest on the bars of the frame,the blocks having their lower portions extending into the open spaces or meshes of the frame and the upper block portions extending above the top of the frame, and fillingstrips for filling the spaces formed above the tongues and between the sides of the upper portions of adjacent blocks, as set forth.

3. A parquetry floor, comprising an open or skeleton frame formed of longitudinal and transverse bars, blocks having on all sides tongues resting upon and secured to the bars of the foundation-frame, said tongues being below the upper face of theblocks to form spaces between the several blocks, and fillingstrips in the said spaces and covering the tongues of the blocks, as set forth.

4. A parquetry floor, comprising an open or skeleton foundation-frame formed of longitudinal and transverse bars, composite blocks having tongues midway between their upper and lower faces, said tongues having vertical recesses, nails driven through the registering recesses of abutting tongues into the bars of the frame, filling-strips fitting in the spaces between the top portions of the adjacent blocks and covering the tongues thereof, and secret fastening devices for securing the filling-strips in place, as set forth.

5. A parquetry floor comprising an open frame, blocks having tongues on all sides and adapted to rest on the bars of the frame, the blocks having their lower portions extending into the open spaces or meshes of the frame and the upper block portions extending above the top of the frame, filling-strips for filling the spaces formed above the tongues and between the sides of the'upper portions of adjacent blocks, and fastening devices for securing the tongues in position on the frame-bars, the said devices being covered up by the filling- Strips, as set forth.

6. A parquetry floor comprising an open frame, blocks having tongues on all sides and adapted to rest on the bars of the frame, the blocks having their lower portions extending into the open spaces or meshes of the frame and the upper block portions extending above the top of the frame, filling-strips for filling the spaces formed by the tongues and between the sides of the upper portions of adjacent blocks, and secret retainers engaging the blocks and the filling-strips, for holding the latter in place, as set forth.

7. A parquetry floor comprising an open frame formed of longitudinal and transverse bars, blocks formed of layers and having tongues on all sides said tongues being formed by a portion of each layer and adapted to rest on the bars of the frame, the blocks having their lower portions extending into the open spaces or meshes of the frame and the upper block portions extending above the top of the frame, filling-strips for filling the spaces formed above the tongues and between the sides of the upper portions of adjacent blocks, and means for fastening the filling-strips in position on the open frame, as set forth.

8. A parquetry floor comprising an open frame, blocks having tongues on all sides and adapted to rest on the bars of the frame, the blocks having their lower portions extending into the open spaces or meshes of the frame and the upper block portions extending above the top of the frame, filling-strips for filling the spaces formed above the tongues and between the sides of the upper portions of adjacent blocks, and retainers in the shape of plates, engaging recesses in the corners of IO having recesses in their ends, and retainingplates engaging the recesses of the said strips, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OHARLES M. KREBS.

Witnesses:

MERRJTT ROGERS, ABRAHAM WILLIAMS. 

